Think his thread needs to return to the LFC section. 
Apparently taken from a Times article by Tony Barrett
Pete O'Rourke @SkySportsPeteO
Reports suggesting Liverpool in advanced talks to re-sign Tom Ince from Blackpool. #LFC #BFC
Reports suggesting Liverpool in advanced talks to re-sign Tom Ince from Blackpool. #LFC #BFC
Brendan Rodgers has defended the way he uses Steven Gerrard, rejecting suggestions that the Liverpool captain is struggling to adapt to his manager’s playing style and insisting that his form will improve.
Gerrard was uncharacteristically jaded in Liverpool’s goalless draw away to Swansea City on Sunday and has scored only one goal in the Barclays Premier League this season. Whereas in previous campaigns the 32-year-old has been deployed in an attacking midfield role for his club, he has appeared to operate in a more deep-lying position since the arrival of Rodgers.
The Liverpool manager is hoping that the imminent return of Lucas Leiva after injury will give Gerrard the platform to get back to his best, but Rodgers maintained that the England captain’s talents are not being wasted by his present role in the team.
“I don’t think there has been a clear change in his game in terms of what I have asked him to do,” Rodgers said. “I think what Steven has been over the years has always been the player who makes the difference and, OK, he may not have had the goals this season that he has wanted but he has still been effective. There has been nothing more or less I have asked in terms of defensive responsibilities. Of course, we want the midfield players to score goals and go and get into the box and gamble, and we have seen when Steven has done that he is fantastic.”
Liverpool head into tonight’s game away to Tottenham Hotspur with their plans for the January transfer window already at an advanced stage.
Talks to sign Thomas Ince, the Blackpool winger, are at an advanced stage and Rodgers is hopeful that the appointment of Rafael Benítez as Chelsea’s interim first-team manager will not jeopardise a move for Daniel Sturridge, the forward.
André Villas-Boas, meanwhile, has in Jermain Defoe a striker whom he is determined to keep, and who he compares to Radamel Falcao, who played for the Tottenham manager at Porto.
“He’s been [scoring goals] for all of his life,” Villas-Boas said. “I certainly put him alongside Falcao.”
Gerrard was uncharacteristically jaded in Liverpool’s goalless draw away to Swansea City on Sunday and has scored only one goal in the Barclays Premier League this season. Whereas in previous campaigns the 32-year-old has been deployed in an attacking midfield role for his club, he has appeared to operate in a more deep-lying position since the arrival of Rodgers.
The Liverpool manager is hoping that the imminent return of Lucas Leiva after injury will give Gerrard the platform to get back to his best, but Rodgers maintained that the England captain’s talents are not being wasted by his present role in the team.
“I don’t think there has been a clear change in his game in terms of what I have asked him to do,” Rodgers said. “I think what Steven has been over the years has always been the player who makes the difference and, OK, he may not have had the goals this season that he has wanted but he has still been effective. There has been nothing more or less I have asked in terms of defensive responsibilities. Of course, we want the midfield players to score goals and go and get into the box and gamble, and we have seen when Steven has done that he is fantastic.”
Liverpool head into tonight’s game away to Tottenham Hotspur with their plans for the January transfer window already at an advanced stage.
Talks to sign Thomas Ince, the Blackpool winger, are at an advanced stage and Rodgers is hopeful that the appointment of Rafael Benítez as Chelsea’s interim first-team manager will not jeopardise a move for Daniel Sturridge, the forward.
André Villas-Boas, meanwhile, has in Jermain Defoe a striker whom he is determined to keep, and who he compares to Radamel Falcao, who played for the Tottenham manager at Porto.
“He’s been [scoring goals] for all of his life,” Villas-Boas said. “I certainly put him alongside Falcao.”
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